Everything Wrong With Online Job Postings

At Find My Profession, one of the services we provide clients is to assist them with filling out online job applications. Since our service changed in mid-2017, we have filled out more than 750 online job postings for only a handful of clients. We also had the chance to post real hiring notices ourselves on job boards and used many job boards.

So, today, after an issue with one of the more well-known job boards we decided to share everything we see wrong with online job postings. Some of these problems are easy to spot while others happen out of sight of unsuspecting job seekers. And it is just a shame.

Spam is a problem Indeed

While searching for a new hire we came across an experience on a well-known website for finding job candidates:

Posted a job.

Labeled it as a “remote” position

Then, charged money to post the listing

Why? We were charged money because it was a remote position, even though it was a real job.

Why this is a problem

It is not “quality assurance” because:

It is making an assumption that remote jobs carry with it the stigma of “always being spam” or “fake”.

Vetting job postings by charging a small fee give license to all spammers to simply pay to post fake job listings.

And it happens so much on websites like this that credible clients will avoid it.

“Remote workers” are key to small online businesses just starting up. In fact, this line of work saves companies money on office costs and increases productivity.

To charge companies money for seeking remote workers puts these legit companies in direct competition with spammers. All you have to do is pay and businesses with low/no budgets will reshape their job descriptions to save money.

So, the right candidates will not be submitting applications. The company tried to get around job board policies. In the process, candidates are not being exposed to legit jobs and spammers are controlling a job board by following a few weak Quality Assurance procedures with no logic...because they can pay for it.

Spotting the cyber code for fake job listings

Often times clients will express interest in a job posting and they share a link to see it. It takes only a few clicks, plus giving away all your data, to realize it was fake. The process usually goes like this:

Find a job on a job board like LinkedIn.

Click to see it.

Get asked to share your email before viewing the application.

Once the email is entered, you are taken to a generic profile form to fill out.

The form is not an application, just a way to create a profile on another website.

Why this is a problem

Legitimate opportunities are taken from one website and placed on some new, startup job board claiming to offer opportunities. And they are doing just the opposite.

This is a process by which companies collect data to grow under false pretenses. They make offers of jobs being on their, meanwhile they real listing from LinkedIn or a company career section expired months before.

It’s false advertising. It’s bait and switch. And job seekers hungry for work giving away their data every day. But there are no real job postings. It hurts the quality and reputation of the job candidate and the country.

Pay-to-apply job websites with fake listings

This one is similar to the previous point but the only difference is that you literally have to pay for your troubles. It goes like this:

Find a job on a job board like LinkedIn.

Click to see it.

Get asked to share your email and pay a monthly subscription before viewing the application.

For the sake of it...

You pay and enter your email.

You find the job expired or you are asked to fill out a generic form. But there is no job.

Why this is a problem

Job seeking is expensive. No one has the money or time to pay to use services that offer no opportunities. The very existence of these platforms is frustrating enough. The fact they exist leaves a dent in the ability of job seekers or recruiters to trust any online job ad.

Important Note: If you are really against paying money to apply to jobs online, go to the company’s career section on their website. Apply to the job that way. It’s free and your resume goes straight to the company database.

Out of date online forms lacking compliance

We fill out many job applications on websites that have not been updated in over 7 years. And lots has changed since then. For example, and most recently, the salary history inquiry ban that prevents companies from asking a person’s previous salary.

In addition, it can be the little things like companies requiring passwords in formats that are long out of date or requiring job seekers to fill out 10 page online forms for one job application.

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